Reorganizing to Make Your Revenue Number

]This week I spoke with Pat, a Sales Ops director. Pat has a lot on his plate. His sales team had been missing the revenue and margin targets. Operating margin was shrinking drastically. Cost of Sales was at an all-time high. Under their current model, they could not win. The determination had been made to turn the Titanic around in under 2 years.

To say that Pat has a to-do list was an understatement. We decided to focus on his plan to reorganize the structure. With a 250+ person sales team, there are many moving parts.

Structuring the organization requires the right people in the right roles to execute processes. Pat will have to determine the strengths and competencies of his team members.

The roles for the team are clear. Customer feedback has helped them determine what role types provide the right value. Now he has to determine who fits best into these redefined roles.

Properly deploying these resources will ensure he retains his top talent. A poorly executed reorganization can result in lost customers and superstar reps’ resignations.

SBI’s 8th Annual Research Report looks into how top sales orgs are making the transformation. It identifies how leading organizations design appropriate sales org models and determine proper headcount. We offer a workshop to prepare leading sales executives for these major shifts.

Your situation may be a little different than Pat’s. Some sales teams are understaffed. These teams miss opportunities and fall short of revenue goals. A bloated sales team increases costs and hinders profits. Sales organizational models need to be revisited and restructured to keep up with the needs of the customers.

Leading Sales Ops executives have reported similar areas of pain. Here’s what they’re wondering:

Through which sales channels do our buyers want to engage our sales team? This is the right question to ask. We recommend you ask the buyers. The value of an indirect channel may have increased or decreased in the last 3 years. An online option for transactional sales may fit the bill. They may prefer a specialist, but are willing to engage with a generalist.

How should we transition from the structure we have today to the structure we need going forward? There are 3 main options for reorganizing the sales team. Rapid build causes pain but is the fastest way to the desired result. Safety build is done in stages. A Pay as you go strategy leverages natural attrition.

What headcount is needed by role? If you’ve analyzed your buyers’ preferred decision making process, this is easier. With an established customer engagement strategy, you can map out how resources are allotted. Taking your account plan, you can determine what is needed to cover your accounts.

Pat has to reorganize to make his number. There’s a lot on his plate. Identifying the right type and size of a structure is complicated. Designing territories in which resources have the most opportunities takes time. Give your sales structure a Sales Organization Self Assessment. Answer these 9 questions. Determine which areas require additional discovery, and solve for them. Whether you are planning one, or considering one, this tool can be your starting point.

John Kearney

Helps clients adopt emerging best practices to help them make their number.

Learn more about John Kearney >

John has been with SBI since 2011. He has worked with executives in Executive Education, Media, Telco, IT Services, and others. Under his leadership, organizations have successfully grown revenue and improved Sales and Marketing Effectiveness. With a focus on aligning strategies across functions, John has delivered strategic solutions that are actionable and executable. Prior to SBI, John earned his MBA from the University of Notre Dame.

Related Articles

December 8, 2016 – Today’s topic is how to select the best sales org chart for your organization. Too few reps and you will miss the revenue number. Too many reps and you will destroy profits. As a guide to the conversation, download our 10th annual...MORE >

December 7, 2016 –
Today’s article is about how to build a sales operations department from scratch. The best growth executives understand that sales ops is the most strategic sales function in the company. They understand that when deployed correctly, sales ops can impact revenue...MORE >

December 5, 2016 –
Today’s topic is how to deploy a sales process. The purpose of a sales process is to win more deals, win bigger deals and to do it faster.
Standard one-size-fits-all sales methodologies no longer work. The competitors can license the same sales...MORE >